Welcome to the world of simple and easy recipes...

We, the ‘aakrantham crew’ extend our special greetings to the beginners in cooking, the novice Bachelors, suffering husbands for being the guinea pig of wife’s culinary experimentations and the most sophisticated cooking experts who, out of their intricate and above-average try-outs have forgotten their beginning point in cooking. Yes! Our aim is to show the simplified paths of cooking, to depict the formulae for day-to-day needs to kill the hunger, to help out someone who is completely new to kitchen and those whose breaths stop hearing the name of dishes with words like ‘forelle’, ‘pecam’, ‘oreo’, ‘agua’ e.t.c in it.

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Sunday, 22 December 2013

Here is the next recipe from my mother-in-law’s kitchen. It is said to be mouth-wateringly delicious by Aysha. As I didn't get a chance to have this dish, I don’t have any idea. However, you can have a try and see the results. I know getting mussels is gonna be one of the toughest tasks in places other than Kerala. Whoever gets a chance to buy this yummy seafood with shells, don’t miss it. Lots of other recipes with mussels (കല്ലുമ്മക്കായ) are on its way. So have a look at the recipe and do try without fail, okay?Ingredients:Mussels – Whole - 25-30 no. sPotato – 2 medium sized – peeled and cut into medium sizesGinger –finger sized piece – peeled and mashedOnion – ½ - choppedGreen chillies – 2 no. s – slicedTomato – 1 big – choppedRed chilli powder – 1 Tb spRoasted coriander powder – 3 Tb spCoconut grated – 1 ½ cupsShallots – 4 no. sTurmeric powder – ½ tspWater – as neededSalt – as neededOil – as neededFenugreek seeds – 8-10 seedsCurry leaves – 1 sprigHow to:1. Clean the exterior of the whole mussel shells and keep it in a big aluminum vessel and heat it for 5-7 minutes in full flame. Turn upside down once or twice in between. Water will come out of the shells and it’ll slowly open. Switch off the flame and keep it aside for cooling down.2. Now take the cooled down and boiled mussels. Take off the shells and separate the flush. Don’t wash the flushy part, but remove messy parts like hair or so. Keep the water came from the shells separate after sieving out any solid parts.3. In a small bowl, put chopped onion, green chillies, cut potatoes, mashed ginger and the water which came out of mussels shell. Close the bowl and keep it aside for some time.4. Cook the above mixture (step 3) in a pressure cooker until potatoes are cooked properly. Switch off the flame and open the cooker. Add the mussels flush, chilli powder, chopped tomatoes, coriander powder, salt (use lesser salt than usual as mussels itself will have some salty taste) and boil for 2-3 minutes in medium flame.5. Meanwhile grind the grated coconut, turmeric powder and 2 shallots in a mixer with ½ cup of water. Once the above mixture has been boiled, pour this coconut mixture to it and cook for 3 minutes in low flame. Switch off the stove and keep the curry aside.6. In a non-stick pan, pour oil. On heating add fenugreek seeds. Once it has completed sputtering, add remaining chopped shallots and sauté for a while it turns brown. Now add the curry leaves and pour this to the curry which has been kept ready.This curry goes well with Kerala boiled rice with some spicy side dish like Mango side-dish Calicut style - കോഴിക്കോടൻ കടു മാങ്ങ

Tuesday, 17 December 2013

While giving permission to Aysha to go home last week, I’d kept a condition. If only she is sure that she can come back with few recipes with photographs, her permission is granted. Else she’ll have to face me. Poor girl…!! Got frightened I think. She came back with few of her mom’s kitchen delicacies, though I had to wait again for another week to get the recipe in written form. So first we are rolling out the simple and easy recipe of a mango dish so called “Kadu Manga” (കടു മാങ്ങ). Don’t get this name confused with the “kadumanga pickle”. It’s different, of course! This particular dish can be made with green mango, ripening one or even with a ripe mango.

Ingredients:

Green mango -1 (cut into medium sized pieces)

Fenugreek – 6-7 seeds

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Coconut oil – 1-2 Tb sp

Onion – ½ chopped

Green chilly – 2 no.s sliced

Tomato – 1 medium sized chopped

Garlic – 4 cloves mashed

Red chilly powder – 1 ½ Tb sp

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Water – 1 cup

Salt – as needed

Sugar – 1 Tb sp (optional)

How to:

1. In an earthen pot, pour coconut oil and on heating put the fenugreek seeds. Once it has fully sputtered, put mustard seeds and allow it to sputter completely.

2. To this, add chopped onion, green chilly, tomato, red chili powder, turmeric powder, mashed garlic, water and salt. Allow it to boil in full flame for about 3-5 minutes.

3. Once the gravy gets thicker, switch of the flame and keep it closed with a lid for 5 minutes. Now check the taste and if the mango taste is too sour, add sugar (it’s optional. Add sugar only if you like sweetness with sour taste).

Do try this easy side dish which will go well with Kerala meals and ghee rice. You’ll let us know the feedback for sure, right?

Sunday, 1 December 2013

The situation is awful and the
expectation of our fans is towering . I'm too lazy and too busy to cook
anything in my kitchen and Aysha doesn't have a stage to perform. She's
been provided food by her house owner. We are left with no clue how to
respond to the queries! Coincidentally Susan Abraham made her appearance with a
recipe of the most wanted and the most delicious Karimeen Curry (Pearl Spot) We've ever had
in our lifetime. I've to use this occasion to comment on her skill not only on
cooking varieties of innovative dishes but also on her typical way of serving.
She decorates her small four-seated dining table in such a simple yet beautiful
way; that guests will be too much tempted to click the snap rather than
touching the dishes...!!

Ingredients:

Karimeen/pearl spot – Whole
-2 no. s

Fenugreek seeds-1/4 tsp

Curry leaves- 1 sprig or more

Ginger-chopped- 1" piece

Garlic-chopped- 2 large
cloves

Green chilies-sliced-2 no. s

Shallots sliced- 10 no. s

Onion -sliced- 2 medium sized

Kashmiri chili powder-2 to 3 tsp

Coriander powder- 1 Tbsp

Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp

Black pepper powder-1/2 tsp

Water-1/8 cup + more as required

Kokum/fish tamarind/kudampuli-2 small pieces

Thin coconut milk-1 cups

Thick coconut milk-1/2 cup

Salt- to taste

For marination:

Kashmiri chili powder- 1 tsp

Black pepper powder-1/2 tsp

Coriander powder- 1 tsp

Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp

Water -as required

Salt-to taste

How to:

1. Marinate fish with the ingredients listed under 'for
marination'.Keep aside for about 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry the fish until 3/4 th done,
turning once in between. Transfer it onto a kitchen towel.

3. In the same pan ( add more oil if required) add fenugreek
seeds, sauté for a few seconds. Add curry leaves, ginger and garlic, sauté till
raw smell leaves.

4. Now add green chilies, shallots and onion. Sauté till onion
turns golden brown. Next add kashmiri chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric
powder, black pepper powder and 1/8 cup water. Cook for about 2 minutes,
stirring well in between. Cook until it the masala turns mushy.( you can
transfer this masala to clay pot/manchatti or continue cooking in the same
pan).

5. Next add thin coconut milk, about 1/4 cup water ,salt and kokum
pieces. Bring it to a boil and add the fish. Cook for about 4 to 5 minutes. Add
thick coconut milk, gently swirl the pan and bring it to just under a boil.

6. Add more curry leaves ,if desired.

Serve the Karimeen Curry with rice, preferable Kerala matta rice.
I guarantee you that the taste is gonna stick on to your taste buds for life
time. Have a try and let us know.

Tuesday, 26 November 2013

I got an FB message from one of our page fans asking why there are no new recipes posted in "aakrantham". She badly wanted a vegetable recipe it seems. Then I assigned a task to her by simply asking her to try something with Broccoli and take snaps to post on this blog on her behalf. Though I told her without much expectation, the very next day she turned up with a beautifully written recipe and a tempting snap. Thanks to Simi Seethy. So here we post our next recipe after a long gap. Hope you guys enjoy reading, trying and eating this special Broccoli recipe.

Ingredients:

Shallots - 10 no.s

Pepper powder - 1 tsp

Green chillies -2 no. s

Salt - as needed

Mustard seeds - 2 tsp

Oil - for frying

How to:

Sauté mustard in oil till it sputter. Add chopped onion and stir for a while. When the onion gets fried, add washed broccoli, pepper powder, green chillies and salt. Make sure that you don't add water. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes in a high flame by closing the lid. The spicy fried broccoli is ready.

Do have a try and let us know the feedback. Cheers..!!

Note: Broccoli has been called a miracle food. It contains high levels of fiber (both soluble and insoluble) and is a rich source of vitamin-C. In fact, just a 100 gram serving of broccoli will provide you with more than 150% of your recommended daily intake of vitamin C,There is an enzyme in broccoli called myrosinase which can reduce the risk of developing cancer.You can also eat broccoli raw to gain maximum benefit

How to:1. Heat a non-stick pan and add oil to it. Put Fenugreek seeds and on sputtering, add mustard seeds. On sputtering, add cut red chilli and then curry leaves. To this add finely chopped ginger and onion. Sauté gently for a minute. Now add the washed and chopped Carrot and cabbage. Add salt too. Sauté for 3 minutes. Now add the freshly grated coconut and sauté for another 3 minutes. The Cabbage and carrot thoran is ready to be served as a side dish with Kerala rice or any similar meals.